In 2011 a group of Gainesville residents came together with a common goal: support the local food economy.
The Citizens Co-op was born, and one way it fulfills its goal is by hosting a farmers market Sundays from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. behind the store.
“Our intent from the start has been to offer as much local food as possible,” Kathy Whipple, 46, one of the managers of the co-op, said.
There were vendors who were selling their food inside the co-op, Whipple said, but when the agriculture inspector came through, a lot of the vendors didn’t have permits to sell food there.
“So in order to offer them an outlet, we decided to hold the farmers market once a week in the backyard,” Whipple said.
The farmers market has a variety of vendors and musicians who perform throughout the afternoon.
Kitty Moss, 34, from Cloudwalker Farms in Lake City, had a stand that featured empanadas and flan made with duck eggs.
“Duck eggs make everything fluffier,” Moss said.
Those who are allergic to chicken eggs can eat duck eggs. The duck eggs are easier to digest than chicken eggs and nutritious for chemotherapy patients, Moss said.
Moss, who is working on her Associate of Arts in agriculture at Santa Fe College, wants to start breeding certain types of livestock that are on the verge of becoming extinct, called heritage animals.
She also wants to expand to growing produce using heirloom seeds, which are the plant equivalent of heritage animals, Moss said.
Next to Moss is the Hoggtowne Lemonade Co., operated by Adam Streifel, 27, and Rachel Valencia, 27.
The stand has gourmet lemonade flavors ranging from blueberry lavender to strawberry chocolate mint to classic lemonade.
The company began with Streifel concocting lemonades with nutritious ingredients to help Valencia eat healthier with her busy schedule.
“We wanted an alternative to soda and sweet tea,” Valencia said.
The pair brought their lemonade to the Citizens Co-op’s market during the Hogtown HomeGrown 2012 Eat Local Challenge in May.
“Farmers markets are bringing back the whole community feel to people,” Streifel said.
Oak Hollow Cottage is beside the lemonade stand, with husband and wife Mike McCarthy, 48, and Pat McCarthy, 54, of Hawthorne.
The stand features jams, sauces, marinades, butters, rice mixes and homemade jewelry by Pat McCarthy.
The couple worked together at a cafe in Lansing, Mich. The McCarthys modified their cooking methods and ingredients to combat Mike McCarthy’s diabetes.
In the last five years, Mike McCarthy lost 80 pounds.
Seasonal fruit is a focus for the McCarthys’ recipes.
“When it’s gone, it’s gone until next year,” Pat McCarthy said.
The cottage’s most popular item is the tangerine turbinado.
“The tangerine offers a complex flavor,” Pat McCarthy said, “and turbinado is a less refined sugar.”
Circling around beside the stage is Elizabeth Dionisi, 51, from Albania. Her stand offers Greek food, including eggplant with feta cheese, baklava and grape leaves.
Past Dionisi is the Citizens Co-op store, where Whipple works to achieve the farmers market’s goal.
“It helps us because it attracts people,” Whipple said, “and it helps the vendors have a low-cost place to sell their goods.”
It costs $5 to have a stand in the farmers market, and vendors can apply on the website.
“It has turned out to be something of an incubator,” Whipple said. “It’s one of the ways that we are building the local food economy.”
